Investigation of the Morphology of the Heart of Zebrafish Embryos Exposed to Different Concentrations of Methylmercury

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Mercury is a well-known neurotoxicant. In its elemental form, mercury is easily distributed into the atmosphere due to its relatively low boiling point. Once elemental mercury becomes airborne it can travel long distances to eventually be deposited into soil and in all types of bodies of water, including streams, lakes, rivers and oceans where it is converted to methylmercury by bacteria. Methylmercury can reach high concentrations in predatory or long-lived fish such asswordfish and tuna, which are prime food sources for humans. Consumption of contaminated fish or marine mammals is the major route by which humans are exposed to methylmercury. We examined the effect of different levels of methylmercury exposure on heart development of wild type zebrafish embryos (ZFEs). ZFEs were exposed to one of two different concentrations of methylmercury (10 ppb (parts per billion) or 50 ppb), and to 0 ppb methylmercury, using 24-well flat-bottom plates. A minimum of 24 ZFEs were tested with each dose of methylmercury. The 24-well plates were incubated for up to 72 h at 28.5 °C. After 24hours exposure to each concentration of methylmercury, all surviving embryos weretransferred to fresh embryo medium without methylmercury (0 ppb). Images of stained sections of ZFEs exposed to three different concentrations of methylmercury (10, 50 and 0µgl) and fixed at 72hpf were captured and NIH Image J was used for measurement and each ZFE heart was assessed for normal morphological development.

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Mahmood, Tasneem A (2014). Investigation of the Morphology of the Heart of Zebrafish Embryos Exposed to Different Concentrations of Methylmercury. Honors and Undergraduate Research. Available electronically from http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/152024.